1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toys and novelty devices that contain internal, battery-operated vibrating mechanisms.
2. Prior Art Description
Many toys, such as dolls, balls and the like are commonly held by children. Toy manufacturers have long ago discovered that the play value of most any toy, especially those that are held, can be increased if the toy is made to vibrate or otherwise move. For instance, plush stuffed animal toys have been in existence for hundreds of years. Talking dolls have also been in existence for many years. When an internal vibrating mechanism was added to a talking Elmo® doll, and was marketed as the Tickle Me Elmo® doll, the doll became a sudden commercial success.
The prior art is replete with vibrating mechanisms that have been used in toys. However, when a vibrating mechanism is added to a toy, a child typically cannot tell if the vibration mechanism is activated unless the child is holding the toy. Often, the vibrating mechanism added to a toy is a low-powered device, that vibrates the toy just enough to be felt. However, the appearance of the toy remains the same whether or not the vibration device is activated or deactivated. In some instances, strong vibrating devices are added to toys. Such vibrating devices are typically added to balls so that the vibrating device makes the ball roll or randomly move. Such prior art devices are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,981 to Maxim, entitled Self-propelled Bouncing Ball and U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,835 to McKeehan, entitled Motor Driven Ball Toy. However, with such prior art toys, although the vibrating device makes the toy move, the vibrating device does not change the external appearance of the toy.
The present invention is a vibrating toy that has elastomeric protrusions. The elastomeric protrusions resonate as the toy vibrates. This causes very fast and wild undulations in the elastomeric elements, thereby causing the toy to change greatly in appearance when an internal vibrating device is activated.